


Mermaid Exchange

by fayeofthefae



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Canon Autistic Character, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, F/F, Fake/Pretend Relationship, Gen, High School, Multi, My First Work, Roommates, more tags will be added as we go
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-29
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2019-06-17 23:35:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 7,408
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15472587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fayeofthefae/pseuds/fayeofthefae
Summary: Cassi isnt all that excited for her stay with an unknown surface family, but at this point cant go back. when she arrives she finds out that 1: her roommate Lisa is a bitch, and 2: she doesnt hate heras much as she wants to.follow these two as they navigate their somphmore year and deal with predjudice, hatred, and the hardships of fake dating





	1. getting land legs

**Author's Note:**

> hello there! I hope you enjoy this little pet project I have been working on for quite a while, I know this chapter is fairly short, but bare with me. the upcoming chapters are much longer.

It was a warm late august day when Cassiopeia, though she preferred to be called Cassi, left her family’s home alongside her father to get to the diplomat’s center near downtown Tritons Point, although she was not able to get past the water line of the beach her family lived near. Why you may ask? Well that’s simple, it was because she did not have legs; but rather a tail, for she was a young mermaid slated to be turned human for the school year as an exchange student. She just had to wait for the magic user that would turn her human and the human student who would be rooming with her family while she roomed with theirs.

Eventually, a black car pulled up to the beach, and a boy her age along with a kind looking woman stepped out and over to where she was waiting for them. “hello there! You must be Cassiopeia, I’m Ms. Wright, and this is Josiah, your exchange mate. Now do either of you have any questions before you switch species?” Ms. Wright said cheerfully. “no ma’am” the two sophomores said at the same time in the tone of voice that one uses when they have already heard something a hundred times before. 

“alrighty then! Let’s get this show on the road” as she said this, Ms. Wright charged her spell. As she aimed, Cassi took one last look at her tail, a gorgeous shade of seafoam green that matched her blue eyes and brown hair perfectly, before closing her eyes to concentrate on the feeling of her lower half splitting down the middle. It didn’t hurt, but it didn’t feel good either, and Cassi was happy when it ended.

As she moved to stand however, she instantly face-planted into the sand, which earned a laugh from the other people present. On her second try however, Cassi was able to stand wobbly on her own two feet. She smoothed out her skirt that when down to her brand-new knees, colored a deep maroon, which was one of her favorites, and moved to grab her suitcase which had been sitting in the sand. “you laugh now, but good luck getting to the water without being able to walk” she quipped in the direction of Josiah, who to his credit looked somewhat sheepish at being called out.

“Oh, that’s right! Josiah, would you be a dear and get in the water before I transform you?” Ms. Wright asked, Josiah made no response other than a curt nod and waded to where he was knee deep in the salty water around him. With a similar but reversed spell and a flash of blue his legs turned into a navy-blue tail.

After the teens got adjusted to their respective new limbs they all said their goodbyes and started off on their respective drive/swim to the diplomat centers. As she made her way to the car Cassi was able to quietly examine her legs, which seemed to have just the slightest of a scaled texture, with tiny patches of faded seafoam to match. When Ms. wright looked back to see why she was taking so long she apologized “I’m sorry, it seems I’ve become a little rusty at species spells” to which Cassi shook her head “it's fine, I like it” to which the woman appeared skeptical, but she kept her mouth shut as the car began to travel to the center.


	2. Meet the Mills

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> swinging the door open Cassi instantly dropped her suitcase onto the bed that didn’t have any posters hanging up above it “I don’t see why mom and dad thought it would be a good idea to take in a transfer student, let alone a fairytale” hearing the scathing remark Cassi flinched “automatic friendship right in the gate my ass” grabbing a book off the bookshelf Lisa put in her earbuds and began to listen to music while reading.  
> Great, her roommate was a bitch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and here we meet our other main character!

Cassi watched the buildings go by with curiosity, trying to memorize what was where so she could find everything later. However, it was difficult to do that when she was being spoken to every five seconds by the chatty Ms. Wright, to whom she mostly gave one-or-two worded answers in hopes of it being enough to show she wasn’t wanting to talk, with no such luck. Just as soon as Cassi had managed to tune her out the car pulled into the parking lot of the local diplomat center, where every non-human visitor to Tritons Point must be checked to make sure they were safe to the public.

As she was ushered in, Cassi saw an Elf and a Fairy having quite the spirited debate over whether the mandatory checks shouldn’t be put on those who did not happen to be homo-sapiens. But she was not able to dwell on it for she was led to a small checkup room, where her vitals would be taken, and her information confirmed.

Once everything had been cleared, Cassi went back into the waiting room to wait for the family she would be living with to come pick her up. Picking a random magazine with a rather cute cover image she began to skim it for anything interesting.

That is until two small children with blonde hair came running in through the door with two adults with a girl around her age following close behind, the group that looked to similar to not be a family went to the front desk and, after being pointed in her direction, came over “you must be Cassiopeia, I’m Mrs. Mills, but you can call me Isabell, or even mom if you like. This is my husband, Mark, Lilly is over there with Robbie, and this is Lisa!” as she rattled off the names of her family Lisa rolled her eyes at her mother’s obviously fake enthusiasm.

“yeah, I’m Cassi, it’s a pleasure to meet you” she indirectly corrected the matriarch. Turning to Lisa she asked, “what grade are you in?” but before she could answer Mrs.Mills butt in “oh! She’s the same age as you, her and Josiah are twins” scowling Lisa remarked “I can speak for myself mom” Isa waved her off before shepherding the smaller children towards the door, which the rest of the group took to mean it was time to go.

Getting in the car, it was cramped to say the least, six people in a car meant to hold only five. Lilly and Robbie were on one side, essentially sharing one seat, with Lisa in the middle and Cassi pressed against the door, tuning out the squabbling youngsters and the sarcastic teen Cassi watched through the window again, watching houses and businesses pass by until they pulled into the Mills’ driveway “alright! Everyone out! Lisa would you be a dear and help Cassi with her luggage and show her to your room?” with a roll of her eyes Lisa grabbed one of the suitcases roughly and walked to the stairs, leaving Cassi behind “hurry up, I’m not going to wait for you at the top of the stairs so unless you want to spend twenty minutes carrying your suitcase you best be quick” she called back, with no acknowledgement to the fact that Cassi was still getting used to having two legs and not having water to help support her. With a grunt she went up the stairs, and just barely caught Lisa walking into the third door down the hall.

swinging the door open Cassi instantly dropped her suitcase onto the bed that didn’t have any posters hanging up above it “I don’t see why mom and dad thought it would be a good idea to take in a transfer student, let alone a fairytale” hearing the scathing remark Cassi flinched “automatic friendship right in the gate my ass” grabbing a book off the bookshelf Lisa put in her earbuds and began to listen to music while reading.  
Great, her roommate was a bitch


	3. settling in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Lisa continues to be a bitch and her little brother is an angel child.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! I apoligize for any mistakes made in this, as this is my first somewhat serious commitment to writing fiction I hope you all can give me some slack. enjoy!

The next day Mrs. Mills told the girls to work on unpacking Cassi’s stuff. “this is bullshit, you can do it on your own” was what Lisa had said as soon as the two were alone, Cassi, left with no other choice, began to unpack her clothes and put them away. “is all you have skirts or something? You haven’t taken a single pair of pants out of that case” Lisa questioned with a bite in her tone “actually, yes, I don’t have any pants, I didn’t have legs to put in them until yesterday. You should know that” Cassi replied dryly, two can play at that game. Lisa shut up after that.

After all her clothes had been put away Cassi began to unpack the rest of her belongings and put them on top of either the dresser or her bedside table. Her favorite dolphin carving her sister had made her for her birthday, her music-box that her dad had brought home from a business trip, her book of recipes that had been passed down through the generations on her mom’s side, and other such knick-knacks that reminded Cassi of home. “just so you know, my best friend is staying the night tomorrow, so you’re going to have to sleep on the floor” Lisa stated with her phone held above her face as she lounged and observed the former mermaid’s actions. Cassi spun around with one of her conchs in hand “oh HELL no, I just got here! There is no way I’m sleeping on the floor!” she shouted angrily “too bad, you are. It shouldn’t be much different from your cave bed back home right?” hearing the racist remark Cassi slammed her suitcase shut “listen here and listen well. I have never and will never live in a cave. I won't sleep on the floor. And that is final” not giving any verbal response Lisa rolled her eyes and went back to texting

 

Once everything had been unpacked and organized, everyone was called down for dinner. “so, how are you girls getting along?” Mrs. Mills asked, the girls didn’t say anything but instead glared at each-other. Lilly, bless her soul, answered for them “they don’t like each-other at all. I heard them yelling earlier” hearing his youngest daughter say this Mr. Mills settled a disapproving glare onto his eldest “Lisa, what did we tell you about getting along and being friends with Cassi?” he asked, waiting for her to answer.  
“you said ‘if you make Cassi your friend then you won’t have to worry about not having Annie or Josiah by my side this year’ but its utter bull-” she was cut off by her mother. “language, Lisa, I don’t understand why you don’t want to just be friends with Cassi, she’s a great girl and wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her bravery to come to a new place where she doesn’t know anyone” slouching in her seat Lisa made no response to her mother’s prompting. “may I be excused?” Cassi asked Mr. and Mrs. Mills suddenly, seeing them nod she quickly got up and left the table.

Roughly twenty minutes passed in silence up in the room Cassi was being forced to share with that blonde brat Lisa before the door creaked open and in walked Robbie. “hey there little guy, what’s up?” Cassi asked, “you need a hug?” the five-year-old asked sweetly. She chuckled before responding, “nah, I’m good, just got bored listening to the grownups” a lie, sure, but she didn’t want to tell a little kid that she hated being talked about like she wasn’t there. Which was a problem faced by her kind often. Getting a satisfying answer Robbie left the room to go play.

“if only Lisa was as sweet as him” Cassi mumbled to herself before lying down to try and get some rest.


	4. going to the store

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> yes the titles a referance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hello! I apoligize for any mistakes made in this, as this is my first somewhat serious commitment to writing fiction I hope you all can give me some slack. enjoy!

The next day Mrs. Mills told the girls to work on unpacking Cassi’s stuff. “this is bullshit, you can do it on your own” was what Lisa had said as soon as the two were alone, Cassi, left with no other choice, began to unpack her clothes and put them away. “is all you have skirts or something? You haven’t taken a single pair of pants out of that case” Lisa questioned with a bite in her tone “actually, yes, I don’t have any pants, I didn’t have legs to put in them until yesterday. You should know that” Cassi replied dryly, two can play at that game. Lisa shut up after that.

After all her clothes had been put away Cassi began to unpack the rest of her belongings and put them on top of either the dresser or her bedside table. Her favorite dolphin carving her sister had made her for her birthday, her music-box that her dad had brought home from a business trip, her book of recipes that had been passed down through the generations on her mom’s side, and other such knick-knacks that reminded Cassi of home. “just so you know, my best friend is staying the night tomorrow, so you’re going to have to sleep on the floor” Lisa stated with her phone held above her face as she lounged and observed the former mermaid’s actions. Cassi spun around with one of her conchs in hand “oh HELL no, I just got here! There is no way I’m sleeping on the floor!” she shouted angrily “too bad, you are. It shouldn’t be much different from your cave bed back home right?” hearing the racist remark Cassi slammed her suitcase shut “listen here and listen well. I have never and will never live in a cave. I won't sleep on the floor. And that is final” not giving any verbal response Lisa rolled her eyes and went back to texting

 

Once everything had been unpacked and organized, everyone was called down for dinner. “so, how are you girls getting along?” Mrs. Mills asked, the girls didn’t say anything but instead glared at each-other. Lilly, bless her soul, answered for them “they don’t like each-other at all. I heard them yelling earlier” hearing his youngest daughter say this Mr. Mills settled a disapproving glare onto his eldest “Lisa, what did we tell you about getting along and being friends with Cassi?” he asked, waiting for her to answer.  
“you said ‘if you make Cassi your friend then you won’t have to worry about not having Annie or Josiah by my side this year’ but its utter bull-” she was cut off by her mother. “language, Lisa, I don’t understand why you don’t want to just be friends with Cassi, she’s a great girl and wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for her bravery to come to a new place where she doesn’t know anyone” slouching in her seat Lisa made no response to her mother’s prompting. “may I be excused?” Cassi asked Mr. and Mrs. Mills suddenly, seeing them nod she quickly got up and left the table.

Roughly twenty minutes passed in silence up in the room Cassi was being forced to share with that blonde brat Lisa before the door creaked open and in walked Robbie. “hey there little guy, what’s up?” Cassi asked, “you need a hug?” the five-year-old asked sweetly. She chuckled before responding, “nah, I’m good, just got bored listening to the grownups” a lie, sure, but she didn’t want to tell a little kid that she hated being talked about like she wasn’t there. Which was a problem faced by her kind often. Getting a satisfying answer Robbie left the room to go play.

“if only Lisa was as sweet as him” Cassi mumbled to herself before lying down to try and get some rest.


	5. first day of hell

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> a glimmer of humanity

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> and heres where they start to nothate eachother. enjoy!

Three days later at roughly 11:00 am Cassi was abruptly awoken by a shoe hitting her forehead. “GAH WHAT THE HELL” she yelled, shooting into an upright position, looking around she soon laid eyes on the culprit. Lisa stood there holding a sandal with an innocent expression “morning fish-bish, you had a spider on your face, so I killed it” she explained matter-o-factly “oh, and mom is taking us shopping for school supplies so get ready quick”

Mind still somewhat muddled by being woken up less than five minutes ago, Cassi begrudgingly went to pull out a navy-blue crop top and a sky-blue skirt out of the dresser, then changed into them as instructed. Once changed she began to brush her hair in front of the mirror, in which Lisa was doing some light makeup

“move! I’m trying to do my makeup”

“I’m not even blocking your view, why should I move?”

“you may not be blocking my sight, but you are most certainly blocking my will to live. If you keep standing there I might stab myself”

Cassi winced at her harsh words “hey uh could you maybe not joke about that?” Lisa smirked, “why? Did your best friend commit suicide or something?” she looked down forlorn with no words spoken, it did kind of hit close to home. Seeing her downtrodden look Lisa was hit by a wave of guilt “oh, oh my goodness I’m so sorry” Cassi didn’t listen, for she was already speed walking out the door and slamming it shut  
Once the resident blonde brat had finished her oh so important makeup routine, Mrs. Mills herded her children plus one into the car and drove to the local target. once there the Mills matriarch left the older youth on their own to supervise the younger children.  
Lost in the foreign store Cassi stood in place as her roommate walked towards the back of the store. Not knowing what else to do she decided to follow her, eventually they reached the women’s clothing section. “why are we here? Shouldn’t we be in the area with the school stuff?” she asked

“you brought two suitcases, one of them being personal belongings instead of clothes. And as if I would let you go through the same maybe ten outfits for a whole year” Lisa replied while browsing the racks “I may not like you but I’m not heartless”  
Cassi wore a hesitant smile, who was this person and what did they do to the girl she had met yesterday? “I uh o-ok? Do I have any say in what I try on or-” she was cut off by three pairs of jeans and two pairs of sweatpants landing in her arms “guess not”.

Once a large pile of clothes had been amassed Cassi was ushered into the dressing room, coming out with a new outfit each time at Lisa’s request so she could make sure it looked good. At one point her hair got stuck in a zipper and she needed help, but other than that it all went well.

“you ready yet? This should be the last one” she heard from beyond the door. Instead of answering verbally she stepped out from the dressing room stall. She was wearing a teal dress with galaxy leggings. As soon as she had set foot outside the stall a squeal of delight was heard “if you get that you have to let me borrow it!” Lisa exclaimed. Nodding in consent Cassi retreated to change back into her own clothes.

Leaving the stall for the last time with half the mountain of clothing she had tried on in her arms, the other half already in the cart. As she dumped the clothes into the cart Lisa spoke “we should probably go get our actual school shit now shouldn’t we?” and began to push the cart towards the colorful signs advertising the selling of school supplies without waiting for a response.

Rushing to keep up with her roommate Cassi almost missed Lilly dragging little Robbie towards the large balls in the outdoor play area, however she managed to catch their eyes and waved at them before continuing to follow their sister to where she was looking over the selection of binders with her phone open to the schools list of required materials. “ok, it says here every sophomore student needs two-three three ringed binders, pens and pencils, paper, and ten folders. So we double that and see what we have left for the optional stuff” Lisa stated with no room to argue, leaving as soon as she finished speaking to find what she wanted.

Left with no choice Cassi browsed the selection and picked out her supplies, doing her best to avoid the blonde. Once finished gathering everything she needed Cassi went back to the centerpiece of the area, which was a display of locker adornments, sketch-pads, and journals. Picking up a cute journal with a picture of a meadow on it the brunette added it to her haul

Soon enough Lisa returned with the cart allowing Cassi to dump her supplies inside. “so, are we done? Or is there anything else?” she questioned her copper-eyed roommate, met only with a shrug and an “dunno, mom said to meet her back at the front”. Rolling her eyes at the lackluster response Cassi took the cart and began to head towards the toy section where she had spotted the younger Mills wandering so as to collect them and go back to their home.


	6. new school blues

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> enjoy my friends!

Once principle Montgomery finished his speech and introducing the staff the students were called up to the stage to receive their school provided essentials. Once every student present had gotten their class times, locker keys, and a map of the school they were to remain in the auditorium for another thirty minutes to find friends and to study their maps and schedules if they so wished.

Cassi of course already had found a group of people to enjoy the company of, so she opted to figure out the best routes to take throughout the day so as to maximize available time. Speaking to the others intermediately to compare schedules to figure out when they would see each other. Turns out her and Meri had all but one of their year-round classes together, and quite a few of their nine-week classes as well. She shared two classes with Ceth, who smiled seeing that they would not be alone in their English class. and one class with each of the twins, with whom she introduced herself. After a few more minutes a disheveled looking girl with hazel eyes and hair sat down with the group, she introduced herself to Cassi as Miranda, who she remembered from the briefing Meri had given on the bus preferred to be called Mira; looking at their schedules they didn’t share any classes, but were planning to join the GSA, along with the others. Thankfully they all managed to have the same lunch period, which made everyone quite happy considering none of their classes had all of them together.

As she finished figuring out her route and conversing about the classes they would be taking Cassi looked around the auditorium, eventually landing on Lisa who was sitting alone in the opposite corner; she seemed upset at something, however it was impossible to tell exactly what. Despite her distaste for the blonde Cassi still did not wish for her to suffer. Excusing herself from her new friends she meandered to where her roommate was; sitting down next to her she waited for an acknowledgment from her. After a few seconds a loud shrill laugh could be heard over the ruckus of a crowded auditorium packed with rambunctious teens; Lisa jumped, shaking her head roughly. Concerned Cassi waved her hand in front of her, to which Lisa responded by gripping her wrist tightly; as soon as she realized what she was doing however she released Cassi from her death grip and instead curled into herself.

Now thoroughly worried Cassi asked, “what’s wrong?” with no response she asked again, this time met with sign language. Confused she questioned “why aren’t you talking”, Lisa rolled her eyes but pulled a pad of sticky notes from her bag along with a pen. On it she wrote ‘nonverbal, too many people and too loud’ still worried but having a grip on the situation she asked if touch was ok, which was met with a nod. Placing her hand on the blonde’s shoulder and grasping her hand with the other she led her to the exit, where a teacher then escorted them to student resources, where a corner had been made for students to relax in incase of a breakdown.

As she calmed down Lisa regained her usual attitude “why the hell did you come near me in the first place?” she demanded, although it was somewhat shaky considering she still wasn’t 100%. Cassi shrugged “you looked sad and if I didn’t help I would feel bad” the blonde stuttered for a second “I- I don’t need your pity, I would have been fine. But thanks, I guess” Cassi smiled softly, rubbing her finger over the textured blanket next to her.

After a few minutes of silence Meri, Ceth, Mira, and the twins walked in. all of them sitting down in the calm space with the roommates. As the events following Cassi’s departure from the group were explained Lisa sank down further and further in her chair. Noticing this Cassi tapped her knee “are you ok?” she asked quietly, not wanting to interrupt the animated conversation everyone else had moved on to. Lisa hesitated a second before rolling her eyes and responding “yeah, why do you ask fish breath?” overhearing the insult Abi stopped mid-sentence to stare blankly at Lisa, uttering a simple “not cool” before going back to what she was saying.

Put off by the sudden negative spotlight Lisa ceased speaking. Eventually the bell rang, telling every student in the building that they had to go to their homeroom for a repeat of what the principle had said. As they filed out of student services and into the hallway they all to find each other at lunch before beginning to make their own ways to their homerooms. As each person fractured from the group Cassi was left with fewer people to chat with, eventually left with alone with Lisa, as she turned slightly to walk through the door to her homeroom her roommate did as well. “wait do we have the same homeroom?” she asked, thoroughly confused “nonhume exchange students share all of their gen-ed classes with their host” Lisa responded curtly, walking to a table by the window. Not knowing anybody else in the room Cassi followed her to the table and sat next to her.

Soon enough the teacher, Mrs. Harder, began to go over the rules for her class and hand out the syllabus, asking every few minutes if there were any questions. As she finished her spiel a few hands were raised, each one answered to the best of her ability. After those were answered more hands were raised, and so on.

Once homeroom was over Cassi and Lisa made their ways to second period, meeting Meri on the way. As soon as the bell ringed again, their teacher stood and began taking attendance, despite several students coming in after their names were called, much to his stern disapproval. After role was taken he gave a short lecture on what his name was (Mr. Smith) and what the class would be like, then about how he had stricter classroom rules than most of the teachers.

At the news Lisa shrunk, worried about something; tapping her shoulder Cassi whispered, “are you alright?” instantly a hand slammed on the desk. “excuse me little lady, but did you not hear when I specifically stated speaking without permission is not allowed?” intimidated by the large man Cassi curled into herself “no sir, I heard, I was ju-” “you were just what? Trying to see if blondie would ditch with you later? Laughing about some inside joke? Well listen here, regardless of what you were saying talking in class is prohibited and-” suddenly he was interrupted by Meri “she was just making sure Lisa was ok! There's no need to be an asshole!” gasping at the language as chuckles ripped through the room he huffed “regardless of intent, if I ever catch any of you speaking without permission again it's straight to detention with you!” finished with his rant Mr. Smith moved back to the front of the class.

Just as he was beginning another lengthy sounding speech the bell rang, which left everyone scrambling out of the harsh teachers classroom. Hearing him call after with a speil over how “the bell doesn't dismiss you! Only I have that power!” laughing at his disgrace the trio made their way to the last class they would have that day due to the assembly at the beginning of the day.

As they entered the room the trio became a quartet when they sat by Ceth, who was too busy doodling a dragon to converse with them. After a while all students had cleared out of the halls, allowing for their english teacher, a portly woman by the name of Mrs. Butler, to begin going over her syllabus. After the syllabus had been cleared away, as well as a couple of questions, Mrs. Butler allowed the students to roam freely about the the class and talk.

Turning to Ceth and Meri, Cassi immediately began to talk about Mr. Smith and what had happened just an hour prior. While the three of them chuckled Lisa sat at her desk not talking to anyone with a distant look on her face. At some point or another though her expression morphed into a smile the reason for her soft smile unknown to any not capable of mind reading; which means nobody.


	7. maybe not so different?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> enjoy!

When the girls arrived home the living room was chaos manifested. the causes of said disarray sitting on opposite sides of the coffee table with paintbrushes covered in a less than attractive shade of almost every color being combined in some amount. Running ahead of Cassi, Lisa put her hands on her hips and stared at the children “what happened?” she asked, using a tone Cassi could only assume she had learned from her parents.

“Lilly pushed me while i was drawing and made me mess it up!” Robbie exclaimed, pointing at his sister. “Nu-uh! I hugged you and you fell over and then hit me!” Lilly shouted back with a Lisa who was very quickly losing her patience in between the two. “Regardless of who started what you have both made a mess that needs to be cleaned up, now put down the brushes and get some paper towels before I call mom” as she said this she held up her phone for them to see. At this point Cassi had moved to the couch to watch the shenanigans that would inevitably ensue. For if there was one thing she had learned since coming here it was that when Lilly and Robbie were involved things tended to end up being funny stories any parent would be proud to tell a significant other in the future. 

 

When Lisa turns to start picking up the various objects on the ground she looked pointedly at Cassi “get your lazy ass up before I make you” she says angrily. Cassi continues to sit “but I’m not part of the family, and I think its funny watching you act like a mom” she replied, Lisa scoffed and returns to putting away the toys and craft supplies.

As soon as Robbie and Lilly returned to see the silent tension that had fallen over the room Lilly left back into the kitchen again, while Robbie climbed onto the couch beside Cassi. “Is Lisa mad at us?” he asked innocently. Cassi floundered, she didn't know how the blonde felt, so how in this plane and any other was she supposed to answer? Thinking quickly she responded “Um, I don’t know if she is or not, but I do know that she loves you. And that means no matter what you can always count on her to want to help”. Overhearing the conversation (she was in the same room how could she not) Lisa butt in “Cassi’s right, for once. I’m not mad so much as I am annoyed that you two did this”. Faking offense the brunette placed her hand on her forehead and flopped over onto her side.

Lilly returned to her siblings laughing and Cassi laying on the floor, groaning dramatically. “Cassi get up we need to finish cleaning!” Lisa whined, poking her roomate with a broom. “How could I when I haven't defeated the mighty captain Robbie?!” she exclaimed as Robbie, currently wearing a fake pirate hat, sat on her. Lilly, who was utterly confused asked “what happened?” to which her younger brother hopped up and began retelling the tale of captain Robbie and his arch nemesis madame de syrene. Chuckling at his enthusiasm Cassi sat up since she was now free from the weight of a five year old on her chest. Maybe she could be part of this family after all.


	8. friends

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Yeah, I guess so” she reached out her arm across the room “friends?”  
> Lisa met her outstretched hand with her own “definitely”

Over the next month a group dynamic was formed, with Mira and Meri becoming the unofficial leaders of the squad, Ben and Ceth the sources of reason and reality, Abi was the one who came up with ideas for everything, and Cassi the calm one; And though nobody really acknowledged it Lisa was as much part of the group as the others, although she still pretended to be aggressive towards Cassi everyone could tell the two were becoming closer.

One day as Cassi and Lisa were sitting on one of the farther back bus seats, a burly looking boy sat in the seat in front of them before promptly turning to converse with the girls.

“So, what are you fine looking ladies doing this friday night? I have a restaurant I’ve been wanting to try for months that you can only go to if you are part of a couple” he asked, not even having the decency to give his name. Lisa groaned “seriously Elijah? Not even introducing yourself? You’ve sunk even lower from last year”. 

Cassi meanwhile was stumped as to why this guy was trying to ask one or both of them out. “What the fuck” was all she said.

Turning his attention to Cassi the now named Elijah raised an eyebrow “you're that mermaid exchange girl aren't you? Cassandra right?” he asked

“her name is Cassiopeia, but she vastly prefers Cassi. Now stop being a dick and leave us alone” as she said this she proactively wrapped her left arm around Cassi.

As if to shoo away the blonde Elijah flopped his hand a couple of times “right, right sorry Liz. I'm guessing that you're unfortunate enough to be stuck with her?” he said jerking his thumb at Lisa.

Cassi squirmed, something about this guy just seemed wrong. And it didn't that she couldn't place what it was.

“What, can fish girl not talk for herself?” the asshat asked  
“she can, but she doesn't like talking to people like you”  
“then let her say so!”  
“Lisa please”  
“no cassi this guy doesn't deserve you!”  
“And why would you have any say in that?”

Lisa hesitated, what say did she have? They weren't- wait “because I'm her friend. And friends don't let each other date toxic people like you!” Cassi’s eyes widened, Lisa had said that they’re friends!

With a scoff Elijah turns back around in his seat. Leaving both the girls in silence until the bus reached their stop. Along with some of their schoolmates Lisa and Cassi deboarded the ‘yellow deathtrap’ as Mira had called it (“there's no seatbelts! What if there's a wreck and twenty kids go flying!”) and made the short trek home, maintaining silence the whole while.

Five minutes after getting home Cassi looked up from her book to see Lisa flopping onto her bed with her phone in hand. “Did you mean it?” she asked.

“What?”  
“What you said, that we’re friends. Did you mean it?”  
Lisa stumbled over her words for a solid ten seconds before responding coherently “I mean, yeah. Aren't we? Friends I mean”  
“Yeah, I guess so” she reached out her arm across the room “friends?”  
Lisa met her outstretched hand with her own “definitely”


	9. oh boy

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> and finnally the meat of the plot begins  
> buckle up thots

With the animosity between them finally dispelled Lisa stopped resisting the pull of Cassi’s, and now her, friend group. Together they all would laugh and make jokes- not all of them appropriate (Ceth may or may not have arranged a weekly game of cards against humanity). This came in handy when group projects, which turn out to be fairly common as the semester got underway.

We join the gang in 3rd period, their English class, while they were working on a presentation about “Paradise Lost” . Lisa didn’t care for it much but was contributing by placing and sourcing images in appropriate places; meanwhile Cassi was having fun learning about the supposed origin of the world so many of her classmates thought was true. Meri isn't as into it as Cassi but she did appreciate the various sarcastic jokes made by Ceth as they did research. 

“Ok don't get me wrong he’s a bad guy but if The Big Guy hadn't played favorites this whole thing wouldn't have happened” said Ceth for the fiftieth time

“Mhm, the entire fall from grace of humanity was caused by divine daddy issues. We've gone over this” was Lisa’s response, who at this point had found enough pictures for an entire book and was watching youtube instead “honestly I would do the same if I wasn't used to my parents ignoring me in favor of my siblings”

“Lisa noooo” Meri wrapped her arms around Lisa, which was somewhat awkward considering they were all sitting in desks. Cassi chose not to put her two cents in, at this point she was used to Lisa’s remarks. As the end of class drew near Mrs. Butler explained the homework for the weekend, which was mostly just busy work that would just be a completion grade.

Once the bell rang Cassi waved to the others telling them she was going to her locker for a minute to put her extra stuff away before lunch. As she took things from her bag and placed them in her locker and vice-versa.

Walking towards the cafeteria to eat lunch with the gang, Cassi overheard the voice of the school star/jock/huge dick in both senses (according to the local gossips, who knows if it’s true) Elijah. “come on Liz, you know you want to come with me to the formal, every single girl in this school does!” wait. Liz? Cassi knew of only one person whose name could be, peeking around the corner to see if her suspicions were correct she learned that she was right that the unfortunate girl was Lisa.

Thinking on the fly, Cassi walked up to the two and asked, “what’s going on here?” even though she already knew, she wanted to see what they said.  
“I was just asking Liz here if she wanted to go with me to the spring formal, to which she is claiming to not wish to accompany me” the jock answered with a tone suggesting he truly did not believe Lisa’s decline

“probably because I would rather curl up in a ditch and die” said girl answered with a huff of annoyance, which let Cassi know she had been having to deal with him for a while at this point. Getting an idea Cassi held her friends hand firmly “which makes sense since she’s going with me” she turned to an extremely confused Lisa with a pointed look “and I doubt she would want to cheat on me, her girlfriend”

Confused Lisa turned to look at Cassi, taking her hand she subtly finger spelled ‘what are you doing’ to which Cassi replied ‘getting you out of this’.

Realizing what was happening Lisa nodded “of course I wouldn’t, you know I’ve only got eyes for you”. Elijah blanched with surprise “wha- uh- huh? You two are dating?! What the fuck, I take it back, I would never have asked if I knew you were a fucking faggot” both of the girls winced at the harsh word despised by every decent person in the world who knew of its connotations.

After his outburst Elijah stomped off, leaving the girls awkwardly standing in the middle of the otherwise empty hallway holding hands.

“Well, that happened”  
“Yup”  
“Wanna wait until we’re home to talk about it?”  
“Preferably”  
“Alright, let’s go eat and give the nerds an excuse for being late” with that Cassi made her way to the cafeteria, and then to the routine table they all sat at.


	10. fuck

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Once the bus got to its stop they both sprinted home, avoiding their classmates who lived nearby. Coming through the door Lisa yelled out “we’re home!” before grabbing Cassi’s wrist and dragging her up to their room, stopping only to unburden themselves of their school stuff and take off their shoes. 
> 
> “We need to talk” said Lisa

After the rest of the day being full of their friends congratulating them along with people who overheard their conversations Cassi and Lisa were anxious for school to end. As soon as it did though they sprinted to the bus and sat as far back as they could to avoid people, on opposite sides of the bus aisle of course.

Once the bus got to its stop they both sprinted home, avoiding their classmates who lived nearby. Coming through the door Lisa yelled out “we’re home!” before grabbing Cassi’s wrist and dragging her up to their room, stopping only to unburden themselves of their school stuff and take off their shoes. 

“We need to talk” said Lisa

“That’s an understatement” replied Cassi 

“You said we were dating. Not once. But twice! Do you have any idea what that means?!”

“Uhh we have to deal with people giving us congrats and then stage a fake breakup to a fake relationship?”

“Clueless scale-brain, it means people are going to think we’re gay! I can’t have that kind of stuff pinned on me or mom and dad will kill me!” Lisa snapped

Cassi stood “what, do have a problem with LGBT people? Then why do you hang with the group?! You know all of us are queer!” 

“What? No, your not gay so not everyone in the group is gay!”

Cassi halts, eyes narrowing at Lisa’s words “who ever said I wasn't? Unlike you stupid humans merfolk don't give a shit about who you love so I never said anything! How is it that despite being the one with less above water experience but I know more about the concept of ‘bird of a feather flock together?’ than you?’

Lisa pauses in her tracks “you- you’re gay? I- Cassi I didn’t have a clue”

“Obviously” Cassi sits down on her bed with a huff

Now feeling rightfully ashamed of herself Lisa left the room. Leaving Cassi to spiral into a bought of hatred for the blonde.

half an hour later Lisa came back with Lilly and Robbie in tow, both of whom were giggling like drunken mad-men as she pushed them in front of her. The reason for said giggling was revealed when they both began to sing.

“Oh our sibling is sorry! So now she sings the sorry song! The sorry song! The sorry sorry song! For when one has done something wrong they must sing the sorry song!” they ceased singing as Lisa began “I have done harm or wrong and now I must sing the sorry song. I made you mad, I made you sad so now I must sing the sorry song! I accept the terms of surrender and admit my wrongdoing through the sorry song” 

As she sang Cassi giggle-snorted, not believing this was the same Lisa she had been despising for the past thirty minutes. Once the song ended and the children left to continue whatever they had been doing before all this Lisa sat next to Cassi on her bed.

“I really am sorry, I was being a bitch and should have been more accepting. It’s just, my parents aren't exactly the most accepting and I guess it made its way into my brain even though I knew it was BS. That’s why I wasn't in here until now, I was watching videos about the LGBT community by the LGBT community” as Lisa continued to ramble about what she had learned Cassi instead continued to lay down on the bed. Eventually however she sat up to assure Lisa that everything was fine.

Only to bump noses with her instead.

Idly Cassi wondered if this is where she died, not in the ocean with her family at an old age but in a shared bedroom in an on land house by the hands of her friend. As her life flashed before her eyes Lisa sprang back, blushing wildly.

“Ok, ok, we can’t be like this around everyone if we want this to work. The whole fake relationship thing that is”

“So you're in?”

“If it keeps Elijah from being a creep towards me? then hell yeah I am”

“Alright, let’s do this”


End file.
